New Ulm weekly review., 1887-08-17
The rock, which Is said tohave form-

The rock, which IS SAID 20 nave form.
ed poor old Rip bedstead. is snug
i little climb from the road. It tis about
/ the length of a comfortable couch, and
hundreds of people are said to take
drink here and then lay down to see il
it makes them drowsy. One nice old
lady discovered slight depression and
/ pointed it out as probably made by his
/ head lying there so long. A sober fac
ed, thoughtful looking citizen ngaged
in distributing equitably some gravel
| that had been dumped upon the road
way. did not believe the story at all.
..He never could lay there twenty
years without no shelter nor nothin
over him, sad the citizen. .sTaint
reason bic. The snow would smud-
der him. Tho wild cats would nibble his
ears. The bears would make meal
out Of him. I've heern this stury fur
some time goin' roun', and I've con-
cluded that it's Jest a yarn started by
some theater fellows to make money
out on, They're a-actin on it out,
now, down to Catskill, in a theater
there. It's nothin' buta made up
yarn.
told him that / had heard that a
man named Irving had started the re-
port.
wall. I don know anybody O. that
name 'roun' here he ereplied, scraping
the gravel vciously: ..but whoever
twas, he might've been in better busi-
ness
The Catskill Mountain house. where
the Colonel and his fellow steed finally
landed us, is "a veteran of hostelries.
having looked off this shore of preci-
pice into the valley gulf below for over
sixty years. From such a place as this
we gaze, and know the reason that the
Indians. whose imagination crept into
many OF their Names called the Cats
kills .'The Mountains of the Sky.
1t is like looking from that chariot of
the air. balloon: a leaf of Gods
great atlas lies before you
The mighty cliff becomes your guide
and leads you by your ewes two thou
sand feet 20 the valley below, then half
score of miles, over many farmers
land, through many spire- crowned
village, till it shows you the silver
cleaning Hudson. Ittakes you sailing
up and down that famous stream for
sixty miles; it leads you over to the
east bank and far inland; it takes you
on a tour through several different
states; and all this time you have not
moved a step from the brink of the
American river.
We walk two miles, past two beauti-
ful lakes, aud come to the famous falls
of the Catskill. Nature and mechanics
are here in partnership. AS the stream
runs out OF the lakes towards the cliffs
where it is to performsits great Jump
ing act it is held back by the construc-
ton of dam, and told to wait until
somebody comes to look at it. When
the visitor arrives he is invited to regis
ter his name and deposit 25 cents to
the credit of the enterprise. Then he
is admitted through I a little wicker
gate, and allowed to climb down
downtown any number of rickety
steps, until he is at last in full view of
the cliffs over which the water is to
make its leap. When he is at last COM
fortably seated, and ready for the ex-
at the top of the cliff turns small
windlas crank which hoists the gates.
and the flood comes tearing down long
enough for you to witness it and issue
the proper number Of admiring ex-
clamation points. Then the old miller
lowers the gates, lights his pipe, and
muses. until your return upon the folly
of the human race. To question as
to whether he thought his peculiar
methods of exhibition might be intro
duced at Niagara, he replied that he
wasn't quite certain bout that; he
never'd be'en out Niag'ra way. When
asked, with such breath as one has on
L I 7 -.
how many times he has witnessed these
falls which he manipulates, he replies.
wearily, that he was down there about
thirty-six years ago. and hasn't cared
to 90 SINCE WILL CARLETON.